God's covenant and the Church

700 years later the Prophet Amos writes:

Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,

...Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory,

and stretch themselves upon their couches,

and eat lambs from the flock,

and calves from the midst of the stall,

who sing idly songs to the sound of the harp,

....Therefore they shall now be the first of those to go into exile,

Amos 6:1-7

The Church, inspired by the Holy Spirit, chose four canonical Gospels, out of many.

The Church, inspired by the Holy Spirit, defined the basic Christian beliefs through the Nicene creed.

That is why:

"The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is excercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome." (Catholic Catechism #85)

AD 397 - New Testament compiled and accepted at the Synod of Carthage.

It took nearly 400 years to define the core beliefs and choose/discard Gospels.

325 AD - Nicene Creed (the essence statement of Christian beliefs) adopted at First Council of Nicaea. It was confirmed at the Council of Constantinople in AD381

306-337AD - Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. The rest of the known world also converted.

First 300 years of the church: diverse messages, many Gospels written, Roman Empire remained pagan and persecuted Christians

After Pentecost the early church returned to the Sinai Covenant spirit:

"All who believed were togther and had all things in common and they sold their possessions and goods and dstributed them to all as any had need." (Acts 2: 44-45)

Isaiah predicts:

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

A light to the nations,

To open the eyes that are blind,

To bring out the prisoners from the dungeon

From the darkness those who sit in darkness

(Is 42:1-4, 6-7)

A First Century Jewish social structure based on purity had a hierarchy like this:

Temple: Priests, Levites (hereditary class)

Israelites

Converts (Jews not Jewish by birth)

Occupational groups – tax collectors, shepherds

The physically unwhole

The poor (wealth is a blessing from God, and the poor could not practice the purity laws.)

Women

Children

Gentiles

Jesus IS the new covenant

After years of people failing to keep covenant with God, Jesus became the Covenant. His death and resurrection and sharing of Himself with us through Eucharist is the New Covenant that promises us everlasting life in God.

We are flawed but He has already suffered for our sins.

“Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in the land" (Deut.15:11).

If this is enshrined in law in Deuteronomy - it indicates it probably wasn't happening naturally.

God intended Israel as a priestly people to minister to other peoples

Birch, B. (1991). People of the covenant. In Let justice roll down: the Old Testament, ethics and the Christian Life (pp.145-197). Louiseville: Westminster/John Knox.

The Sinai Covenant

WHAT HAPPENED?

Land became a commodity

Rise of monarchy and associated infrastructure

Dominance of purity system.

The Hebrew scriptures reveal God in different ways, one of which is a narrative - the story of a nation, a chosen people.

The fulcrum of the narrative is the covenant made in light of the flight from slavery in Egypt.

In this defining event God intervenes in history and intends to form His people in His image: “For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:45)

The covenant was the covenant of a "contrast society without oppression and poverty," in contrast to other societies around them, particularly the Egyptian one they had left.

The Ten Commandments were an act of love

From: Donohue, J. (2005). The Bible and social justice: Will this engagement lead to marriage? In K. Himes (Ed.). Modern Catholic social teaching (pp.9-24). Washington: Georgetown University Press.

The laws given were the way the people would need to live if they were to form a successful society (Deut 10:13).

These commands based on love, offer hospitality to foreigners and a promise not to oppress the poor, the resident alien, the widow or orphan - the most vulnerable members of the society.

"You shall not oppress a resident alien, you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt" (Ex 23:9).

God's Covenant and the Church